Help Preserve Fertility & Hair for Breast Cancer Fighters

In June of 2024 at 25 years old, I was diagnosed with stage 2, grade 3 Triple Negative Breast Cancer, the most aggressive form of Breast Cancer.

I will never forget my Surgical Oncologist telling me that I saved my own life by finding the lump in my breast and immediately taking action. I then learned that I would need 16 rounds of Chemotherapy and numerous surgeries, among other treatments. My world instantly flipped upside down in the most devastating and intimidating way.

I had to start by going through the process of fertility preservation. Since Chemotherapy can cause infertility, freezing my eggs served as a back up plan to ensure my fertility wouldn’t be something that cancer treatment took away from me permanently.

Throughout the 5 months of receiving Chemotherapy, I used cold capping, a scalp cooling technique used to minimize hair loss. These caps, which were -32° C I might add, helped me save a significant amount of my hair, keeping me sane and providing a sense of normalcy throughout this journey.

It’s impossible to put into words how mentally exhausting, spiritually challenging, and physically grueling this entire experience has been. 16 rounds of Chemo, 5 surgeries (2 of which are still to come), 134+ hours of cold capping, 6 biopsies, and being poked and prodded more times than I can count.

Almost 7 months later, I found out that I AM CANCER FREE!! My pathology report showed that I had a complete response to the Chemo, meaning there were no remaining cancer cells at the time of surgery. This was the absolute best case scenario that I prayed so hard for.

I have endless gratitude for my incredible and brilliant doctors- who not only healed my body but nurtured and supported me with genuine compassion and care throughout this journey, my family- who constantly dropped everything in their lives to support me and get me through the hardest time of my life, my amazing boyfriend- who was there every step of the way, my phenomenal friends- who lifted my spirits and were a source of light exactly when I needed it, and God for always watching over and protecting me. They showed me the true meaning of unconditional love and I truly could not have done this without them.

If you take away one thing from my journey, let it be this: Appreciate the little things in life and find joy in everything you do. There’s nothing like sickness to give you perspective, and I can guarantee that there are people who are sick that are longing for the ability to do the things that we often complain about having to do. & Most importantly, always tell the people you love that you love them!

I have 2 more surgeries to go and have to finish out my remaining immunotherapy but this chapter will never be fully closed. I am forever changed. Being so young and having zero genetic markers, this is genuinely the last thing that I ever thought I’d have to worry about, but it happened. Please use this as a reminder to CHECK YOUR BOOBS.

Throughout this whole journey, I couldn’t stop thinking about all of the people with the same diagnosis as me, but facing even harder circumstances. I was afforded the luxury of fertility preservation & cold capping which many young patients cannot access, especially those without family support, financial means, or who are sole providers for their families. Knowing the extreme financial, physical, and emotional burden fighting Breast Cancer is, I want to do what I can to alleviate some of that burden and help sponsor these 2 “non-essential” treatments. I encourage you to join me in donating to 2 very important charities that target these specific treatments.

1 Round of IVF can cost up to $20,000 out of pocket and only 16 states currently have laws requiring insurance companies to cover medically necessary fertility preservation. 50% of the proceeds will be donated to Team Maggie for a Cure.

Cold capping is not universally covered by insurance, leaving patients to pay out-of-pocket. Preserving my hair was crucial for my mental health and resilience, as it is to many others. The other 50% of proceeds will be donated to Hair To Stay.

Please note that GoFundMe doesn't allow you to simultaneously fundraise for 2 charities, so I'll be compiling the funds myself (per GoFundMe's recommendation) and splitting it equally between the 2 charities for direct donation. I will be sharing a receipt of my donations once the fundraiser ends!

❤️